Performance the priority for Muir in Stockholm

Scot has already ticked off victory in Swedish capital

There is no special resonance, Laura Muir insists, in chasing a repeat of her impressive 2019 victory in Stockholm as the Diamond League circuit shifts to the Swedish capital tomorrow.

Points, unlike in previous years, do not deliver prizes. Winner of the overall series in 2016 and 2018, World Athletics has decreed that there will be no title up for grabs this summer.

Although eight legs of the Diamond League have officially survived the coronavirus pandemic, only five have attempted to stage a traditional meeting. And there remain doubts that the fifth, scheduled for Doha on September 25, will actually proceed as billed.

In these times of uncertainty, Dundee Hawkhill Harrier Muir is grabbing all opportunities to test herself on offer.

The 27-year-old faces Kenya’s world 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri and in-form Northern Irishwoman Ciara Mageean over 1,500 metres at the Bauhaus Galan, as well as her Hawkhill Harriers clubmate Eilish McColgan. It is about producing performances, she claims, not defending her turf.

“Diamond Leagues are a little bit different,” said the European champion. “I don’t really think too much about the ones that I’ve won, like Stockholm.

“I tend to focus more on the ones where I’ve lost – and then want to win.

“When I’ve won a race in a particular place, that’s job done. Box ticked. For example, I’d love to win in Monaco.

“That would be cool I’ve not done that yet. I like that ticking off of another one.”

Her training partner Jemma Reekie will bid to keep up her unbeaten record over 800m in a field that includes last year’s world silver medallist Raevyn Rogers of the USA. Having broken the two-minute barrier for the first time earlier this month, the Scot gets another chance to strengthen her credentials.

Neil Gourley gets his first 1,500 metres of 2020 with rivals including world champion Tim Cheruiyot and Norwegian tyro Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Elsewhere, Katarina JohnsonThompson, along with fellow Brits Shara Proctor and Abigail Irozuru, will be part of a long jump competition in Stockholm that has stoked controversy among athletes.

Instead of the victor being decided by the best effort from six rounds, the top three jumpers after five attempts will then contest a one jump final in a format piloted in indoors in Glasgow this year.

The experiment has been called “silly” by track legend Carl Lewis, while former Olympic champion Greg Rutherford said: “Surely a true measure of pressure is giving everyone a chance to win?”

● Competition will officially resume in Scotland today with the first leg of a National Open series at Meadowmill. The closed-door event has been pulled together by Scottish Athletics with strict Covid-19 protocols in place.

A number of athletes have opted to pass on any domestic competition with world medallist Zoey Clark confirming that she will sit out the season to focus on preparing for the Tokyo Olympics.

She said: “Following the announcement that lockdown in Aberdeen is extended we have decided now is the time for me to reset for next year.”